Cultural Exchange
by theSardonyx
Summary: A series of one-shots detailing various nations' experiences in countries other than their own. Watch them get into all kinds of mayhem and trouble!
1. The Egg Fiasco

**/ I know, I know. I should be working on Warmth Under the Snow, but I can't help it. This thing's been on my mind for two months and it won't stop bugging me. And so, I finally gave in and wrote it. Enjoy.! /**

FIRST

_The Egg Fiasco_

"Sir," the cab driver called. America looked up from his phone and smiled.

"Yeah?"

"Well, umm, would you mind if I stop for a while to buy something?"

"Huh? No, that's fine. I'll wait here." With that, the driver ran off to a vendor with a basket.

It was around 8 in the evening. America found it odd that the streets were deserted. Well, not really, but they were empty save for a few people running here and there. It was a foreign scene to him, he who was used to the lively nights in Los Angeles. But tonight, he wasn't in California, nor was he in the US. He was in Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

America glanced at the cab driver and the vendor. His eyes locked on to the object on the driver's hand. Was that... An egg? Why would somebody be out in the evening to sell eggs?

"Hey!" he called, and both men turned to look at him. "Can you get me one too?"

The cab driver laughed. "Are you sure? You might want to take a look first, just in case."

_Check what?_ America wondered as he got out of the taxi to join the two men. "It's an egg."

"No, not an egg sir," the vendor said, shaking his head. "It's _balut_."

"_Balut_?" America asked. "What's that?"

"Well, it's... Umm... Boiled duck egg," the vendor answered.

"So it _is_ an egg."

The vendor and the driver laughed. America felt a little irritated. What was it that they found so funny anyway?

"Probably not the kind you're expecting though," the driver finally said. "Here, I'll show you."

He asked for another "egg" from the vendor, who in turn, complied. He then broke the shell, peeled it off a bit and sucked on it. After that, he started peeling the shell again.

America stared at the driver. What a weird way to eat an egg.

"Here," the driver said as he held out his hand with the "disassembled" _balut_.

"What are those?" America asked.

"The inside of the _balut_, of course," the driver answered. He pointed at a white chunk. "We call this one the 'bato'. That means rock or stone. It's a little hard to bite into that's why it's called that. The yellow ones are the yolk of the egg."

"What about that weird gray blob right there?" America asked, pointing at it.

"Ah, well, that's the chick."

America stared. "Are you kidding?" The two men with him laughed.

"Of course not," the vendor said. "Tell you what, I'll give that _balut_ to you for free if you manage to swallow the chick whole."

America's eyes lit up in determination. Was that a challenge? Ha! The hero doesn't back down to any challenge!

"Hand the gray blob over," he demanded. The driver laughed as he sprinkled the "blob" with salt (for added taste, he said) and handed it to the blonde.

America stared for a while, wondering what could be so special about the gray blob that the vendor had to challenge him to eat it. He steeled his nerves (and stomach) and downed the entire thing in one gulp.

Uggh. What was that? He thought he felt something feathery slide down his throat... No way. Was that... Were there really feathers on the thing?

He felt the bile rising up in his throat but he swallowed it down. Ha! He managed it! Of course, he did; after all, he's the HERO! Albeit, now a somewhat sick hero, but he managed, didn't he?

The vendor laughed heartily as he applauded. "Well, looks like that one's on me. I'm surprised you didn't puke at that."

"I felt like it..." America groaned. Then he straightened himself and puffed his chest. "But of course I didn't! I'm a hero after all!"

The two men laughed again. It lasted for a few seconds before the driver whispered something to the vendor.

"Give me a plastic bag," he said as he stared at America's green face. "Just in case."

**/ Okaaay.! Thanks for reading guys.! And review please.! This is just the first story to a series of one-shots that would be tackling cultural differences between nations. I'm not very knowledgeable as of yet, so if you know something, please PM me.! /**


	2. Enough to Feed a Thousand Men

**/ Hello again.! This is the second story in this series of one-shots. I should be doing something else, but then again... Ehehe~ I'm currently having trouble with the latter half of the latest chapter, so this was written as a little something to get my mind working again. Too bad it didn't work, but hey, I was productive at least. Translations will be at the bottom A/N. :)) /**

SECOND

_Enough to Feed a Thousand Men (Or at Least Two Hundred Nations)_

"Woah," America said as he eyed the food on the table in front of him. He turned to Philippines who was standing by the door, his expression smug. "Did you invite us because you're having a party or something?"

Philippines gave America a confused look. "I don't throw parties if there's no occasion. I cooked all these for you guys." He frowned a bit. "You don't like what I prepared for you?"

Spain jumped in. "No, no, not at all. It's just..." He trailed off, glancing at the food on the table again. "There's too much food. The three of us can't eat all these."

Philippines looked thoughtful. "I'll join in then."

"Four people still cannot finish all of these, Firi-kun" Japan said.

And it was true. The table looked like it was set for a birthday party instead of a simple gathering. There was spaghetti, _pancit_, shanghai rolls, _biko_, _puto_, _dinuguan_, _caldereta, _and _pinakbet_. And two big bowls of rice. There was no way four people can finish all that. Ten, maybe, but definitely not four.

"You overdid yourself, _Fil_," Spain said.

"Hey, we don't know that we can't finish all of these. Also, while you're all contemplating on that, the food's getting cold. And it's always better to eat food when it's warm. So, _tara_!" Philippines said and dug in.

America laughed. "Yeah! After all, you have me. And I forgot to eat lunch because I was too excited to see you again, bro." Philippines gave him a grin and a thumbs-up and America continued. "I'm digging in!"

Spain and Japan glanced at each other. "We'll survive this," Spain said. "Hopefully."

~.; _about an hour later_ ;.~

"Dude, I'm full," America said as he slumped in his seat. Japan and Spain were in the same state, though Philippines didn't seem fazed.

"That's too bad," Philippines said. "I still have _buko_ salad and a graham cake in the fridge."

America raised a hand. "Normally, I'd say there's always room for dessert, but sorry, Phil, I'm really full. I can't eat anymore." Japan and Spain nodded in agreement.

"So, I guess I did prepare too much," Philippines said then shrugged, "Oh, well. I suppose I can just eat them tomorrow."

"I wish Romano was here to eat with us," Spain said. "He would've loved your _caldereta_."

America's eyes lit up. "Hey! That's an idea. We can call people up and have them come here."

"More guests?" Philippines asked, and his eyes blazed with determination. "I have to cook more then."

"No!" his three visitors exclaimed, startling the host country.

"Why not?" he asked with a pout.

"I'm sure we have more than enough food for now, Firi-kun," Japan said.

"Alright! Now that it's settled that Philippines won't be cooking again anytime soon..." America glared at the host before continuing. "...let's call some people now so we can share all this, yeah?"

America decided to call England and Canada; Spain called Romano, Italy, Germany, Prussia, and France; and Japan called China and Korea. A few minutes later, the mentioned nations came knocking on the door.

"We're here, aru," China said. When he saw the table, he looked quizzically at Philippines. "Who's birthday is it?"

"Nobody's," Spain replied. "It was supposed to be a simple family gathering, but _Filipinas_ here cooked way too much for four people."

"Aiyaa," China said. "So you called us to help you finish them off?"

"That is the case, Chuu-kun," Japan said.

"Chuu-kun? That's one weird nickname," America remarked.

"It's a good thing we came here to eat. America here interrupted my dinner," England said.

America laughed. "Oh, you won't be needing to eat another meal today after this."

~.; _about another hour later_ ;.~

"There's more?" America exclaimed. All the nations present were full now. The news that there was more food than they first thought shocked all of them.

"Well..." Philippines looked away and started rocking on his heels. "I secretly went to cook again while you guys were busy eating."

"Didn't we tell you that we had more than enough food already?" Spain asked.

"I can't eat another bite, bastard," Romano grumbled. "Even though I have to admit that your pasta is good..."

"Ve~ yes!" Italy readily agreed. "You make good pasta, Philippines."

"_Salamat_," Philippines smiled. "But you know, now we have more left-over food."

"Kesesese~ That's no problem, is it?" Prussia laughed. "After all, we can just resolve this by telling more countries to come here. This time keeping an eye on our overexcited host here, of course."

Philippines frowned. "But my house is too small. We can't fit anymore people in here."

"We can have it in your yard," Canada mumbled. Surprisingly, Philippines heard him.

And so, the present countries called other countries. Soon enough, Philippine's yard was full of people. Literally the whole world was invited.

"Stay where we can see you," Germany said, determined to watch his prisoner - that is, his host - with the eyes of a hawk. They couldn't afford to have him sneak into the kitchen to cook again.

~.; _yet another hour later_ ;.~

"Thanks for the meal, Philippines. We'll be going now," Leichtenstein smiled at the host country before leaving. Switzerland was right behind her, muttering something about how much his host could've spent with all the food.

"Well, we're the last ones here now," Spain said, heaving out a sigh. "I'm glad that's over."

"Really, dude, you shouldn't have cooked too much in the first place," America said, scolding his younger brother.

"Sorry, _kuya_. It was just that I'm having guests, and I don't have much to offer except my cooking," Philippines said.

"It's alright to cook for your guests, Firi-kun," Japan said, smiling. "Just don't cook enough for a thousand men."

"Or at least two hundred nations," America added and all four of them laughed. Then America's expression turned serious. "But seriously, don't."

**/****

** * Notice that this fic and the last one are related to the Philippines? Well, I'm only knowledgeable about my country has that's different from other countries. I need help for other ones, and I can only get them from you guys. So please, review of PM me if you know anything. Thanks.!**

** * So... translations. :))**

** * pancit - it's, umm, pasta? I guess. Except the noodles are way thinner that the ones used for spaghetti. Topped with bits of chicken meat and various vegetables (carrots, cabbage, string beans, etc.). Sometimes, if the cook feels like it, it may also contain fishballs or kikiam.**

** * biko - brown rice cake usually topped with fried dried coconut meat.**

** * puto - how do I describe this? I dunno how. Just Google it or something.**

** * dinuguan - pork meat in black sauce. I completely forgot what the ingredients are since I haven't eaten it for years. A lot of Filipinos eat it with puto. (They dip the puto in the sauce.)**

** * caldereta - it may contain pork, chicken, beef, or goat meat. The sauce is tomato-y (hence the comment about Romano liking it). It usually has potatoes and carrots. Sometimes hotdogs too.**

** * pinakbet - assorted vegetables(_okra_, bitter gourd, etc. The greens. Not leafy though.) in _bagoong_ (salted fish? Nope, that's not it.) and a bit of soup.**

** * tara - come on/let's go**

** * buko - coconut (actually, this can also be referred to as _niyog _depending on the, uhh, color of the skin.? Green is _buko_, brown is _niyog_.)**

** * salamat - thank you**

** * kuya - big brother**

** * Once again, thanks for reading.! :)**

***/**


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